Sahyadri Fortnight Launched with Shekru Festival

Under the Environment Dept’s Western Ghat (Sahyadri) Special Eco-club Scheme, which is implemented by CEE, eco-clubs have been set up in 246 schools in 63 Talukas of the 12 Districts in Maharashtra that have a segment of the Sahayadri mountain range. Of these, 30 schools from Pune, Ahmednagar, Satara, Raigad, Nashik, Kolhapur, Sangli district participated in the Shekru Festival and will be taking up a variety of activities to celebrate Sahyadri Fortnight from 1 to 15 July 2013 for reaching out to the community with awareness activities, collecting seeds of tree species important for the survival of shekru. Here is a brief report of the event:
Shri Chindu
Dhondu Asavale, who in the 1990s, was the local guide in Bhimashankar for Dr Renee
Borges in her surveys and scientific research on the Indian Giant Squirrel was
felicitated by the Minister. Dr Borges, currently based in London, communicated
over e-mail her best wishes for the event and appreciated the initiative of
involving school children.
A mela was organised for the children, this included games, quiz, film screening and an exhibition on the Sahyadris, ecology of the Giant Squirrel, threats and conservation efforts. The Web of Life and Ropes and Ladders games helped students understand the ecology of the shekru, threats such as habitat degradation and fragmentation and some dos and don’ts related to biodiversity conservation.
Seeds of trees
used as food plants and nesting plants, such as Hirida, Beheda, Wad, Umbar,
Mango, were displayed at the Festival. Each school was also presented seeds of
all these species; schools will raise saplings and plant them over the coming
months.
A Tree of Hope
encouraged students to think and write one positive action that they would take
up for conserving the giant squirrel population.
An informative poster about Shekru developed by CEE for the Sahayadri Fortnight was released at the event.
The
participating schools got an opportunity to display their projects at the
venue. Some examples included display of scientific information on all the 8
species of Giant Squirrel, display of collected seeds of food plants of the
Giant Squirrel, stuffed toys of the animal, articles made from a local grass
variety called Tambat, cloth bags made from discarded saris, cloth
materials.
For more
information contact:
Satish Awate
Programme Coordinator
Centre for Environment Education
A 1 Garden Estate, New D P Road
Aundh, Pune - 411 007
Ph +91-20-25884077, 25894066
Fax +91-20-25884067
Email:sahyadri@ceeindia.org
A 1 Garden Estate, New D P Road
Aundh, Pune - 411 007
Ph +91-20-25884077, 25894066
Fax +91-20-25884067
Email:sahyadri@ceeindia.org
Photograph courtesy: CEE Central photo bank
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